Time Inc.’s top management huddled with a number of major shareholders on Nov. 16, and one source said he came away convinced management was still committed to a long-term turnaround plan — not the takeover plan that Meredith is floating.

“There still seems a little bit of resistance” to the idea of selling the company, the source said.

That may be one reason Time Inc.’s stock seems to have stalled without piercing the $17-a share offer.

A week ago, the buzz was that a deal was imminent.

But now some on Wall Street are taking a more cautious approach. The stock on Tuesday closed at $16.50 a share, down 5 cents on the day.

That ends a rally that began with the company’s earnings report in premarket on Nov. 9 and accelerated when news broke that Meredith — with $500 million in backing from billionaire brothers Charles Koch and David Koch — was circling the company for the third time with an offer that could be between $1.7 billion and $2 billion.

But another Wall Street source said McKinsey & Co., which has been consulting with Time for a year, is urging the board to hold out for a higher price above the $17 to $20 a share that Meredith is reportedly dangling.

Dozens of McKinsey consultants are at work inside Time Inc., led by managing partner Christian Schmitz, who is the de facto chief transformation officer of the company.

Meanwhile, one shareholder asked, “Are the Time properties sufficiently iconic that there will be other interested parties?”

“The only way you get a good price is when more than one party wants the same thing,” said the shareholder.

So far, no other suitors have been revealed.